On Apr. 15, 2020, NanoString Technologies announced the first publication utilizing the nCounter platform and its leading gene expression panels for measuring immune response in COVID-19 research. Work published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe by a team of scientists from the Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre, a unit of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre, outlined the differences in host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infections in their publication titled, ‘A Dynamic Immune Response Shapes COVID-19 Progression.’

In this study the team of scientists collected blood samples from 3 patients with different severities of disease throughout the course of infection and used the nCounter Human Immunology V2 panel for transcriptional profiling. Nasal swabs were also taken at each time point in order to correlate the results with the presence of the virus. Most notably, the study discovered key molecules in the blood that best correlate with disease severity prior to the appearance of the worst symptoms. This study demonstrates the ability of the nCounter Analysis System to quickly elucidate potential biomarkers and signatures of progression, which may be critical in understanding the pathogenesis of the COVID-19 virus and developing potential therapeutics and vaccines.

The company also announced it has ongoing COVID-19 product development efforts for both the nCounter and GeoMx platforms to address the evolving research needs of the scientific community. The first research product, an nCounter COVID-19 Panel Plus Beta, includes content for measuring the SARS-CoV-2 gene expression when combined with any of the companies nCounter gene expression panels. The product is being made available through the beta access program at no-charge for scientists using the nCounter platform.